Advent: It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

We love Advent around here ... but we love the Christmas season even more. And our home is beginning to look and feel and smell like Christmas!

Especially during these last days of Advent, we remember the 4 p's: penance, prayer, partying and preparation.

• Penance to atone for our sins that created a world where God had to send his Only Son to save us. We were able to have our adopted chaplain hear our confessions on Wednesday ... always a great thing!
• Prayer for an increase in faith, hope and love during the coming year.
• Partying for the saints whose feast days fall within Advent -- Our Lady of Guadalupe and others -- who help us see the great goodness that exists in our fallen world
• Preparation for the great feasting during the Christmas season -- which for Catholics lasts from Christmas Eve till the Baptism of Jesus (this year, January 11th). Some Catholics even go till the old end of Christmas with February 2nd, the Presentation of Our Lord or "Candlemas" as it used to be called.

And preparation is one of our favorite parts of Advent. When I start doing the Christmas treat making -- especially when I haul out the big roasting pan for my special caramel popcorn -- the kids KNOW Christmas is close.

In this age of everyone working and no one having time for the home arts, a bag of homemade goodies is very appreciated. We love to do this for our friends and family. So, last week we put the baking into high gear so we'd have goodie bags to give on the last day of dh's school before break. We made:

Port Cake (which we made on Stir-up Monday)

Candy-Cane Crisps and Caramel Popcorn

M&M Pretzel Wreaths

English Toffee

Nanna's Swedish Nuts (Kotch's specialty)

Sweet'n'Spicy Nuts (with the "kick" coming from the cayenne pepper!)

Rocky Road Candy

and Spice Gumdrop Cookies

We makes tons of all of these things ... not just for snitching by the kiddoes and dh ... but also so we can give lots of variety to one and all.

On the 17th we also started to celebrate the O Antiphons using our "house" we made last year; Kotch has been cantoring the appropriate antiphon each night (with the rest of us singing the refrain, not even half so well as Kotch does the antiphon!). Thank God for Kotch's singing talents!

On the 4th Sunday of Advent we bring out the Christmas Tree (which we usually buy the first Sunday of Advent but leave outside in water till the 4th Sunday). We bring it in and set it up ... but don't decorate until Christmas Eve. We put out the Nativity set and begin to get out the blankets, kitchen linens and Christmas dishes reserved for this time of year. We start shifting from our Advent music to Christmas music playing in the background. In short, it begins to look alot like Christmas around here.

I probably won't post again till after Christmas ... but I want to wish one and all of you a very joyous, faith-filled Christmas. We'll be attending Midnight Mass this year (Lego Maniac wants to serve this one and we used to always go to Midnight Mass when I was little so ... we're all going!) and I will pray for each one of you and your intentions during that holiest of nights!

Feast Day: St. Lucy & Lumen Christi

This is the first year we've celebrated St. Lucia Day in the style of the Swedes. After spending time this week reading Kirsten's Surprise (which is a great overview of all the preparation such a holiday requires) from the American Girl Collection, we decided to do this day right!



Seems the Swedes celebrate St. Lucia Day (Lucia is a name that means "light" and St. Lucy in fact is the patron of eye disorders and light) in order to light up the long winter nights caused by living so far north. It is also the kick off to the Christmas season in Sweden.



So, although we're in the midst of Advent, we thought it quite appropriate to adopt the St. Lucy "breakfast-bread in the morning tradition". Normally, a daughter of the house, wearing a crown of evergreen with lit candles blazing in the dark, carries fresh made bread to all the members of the house. I wouldn't let String Brean wear lit candles on her head or let the boys eat breakfast in bed; we compromised with candles on the table and String Bean serving the family the right-from-the-oven buns.



We used Kirsten's Cookbook and made the St. Lucia Buns. String Bean and I made the dough last night and then baked the rolls this morning -- for just-baked freshness at 7:00 a.m.! The recipe calls for saffron -- not something we use much here, but I did happen to have it on the shelf. It gives the rolls a gorgeous golden color and an interesting flavor, too.


Lucia Buns (makes 6)


Ingredients:
□ 1/3 cup milk
□ 1/4 cup butter
□ 1/4 cup lukewarm water
□ 2-1/4 tsp dry yeast
□ 1/4 cup sugar
□ 1 egg
□ 1/2 tsp salt
□ 1/4 tsp saffron
□ 2-3/4 cups flour
□ 1 tbls cooking oil
□ 1 egg
□ 1 tbls water
□ 24 raisins
□ Cinnamon-sugar mix

1. Measure the lukewarm water into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water. Stir well and set the bowl aside for 5 minutes to soften the yeast.
2. Warm the milk and butter in a microwave safe container till just warm (about 1 min). Stir until the butter is melted.
3. Add the warm milk and melted butter to the yeast. Stir in the sugar, egg, salt and saffron. Add 1-1/2 cups of the flour and stir until smooth.
4. Add enough of the remaining flour so that you can shape the dough into a ball (about 3/4 of a cup more flour). Use the remaining flour for kneading the dough.
5. Put dough on a floured cutting board – dust your hands with the flour and knead the dough until it’s smooth and springs back – from 5-10 minutes of kneading.
6. Place 1 tbls oil in a bowl and coat the dough ball with the oil by swishing around . Cover with a clean dish-cloth and set to rise until double – about 45-60 minutes.
7. Punch down the dough. Then divide it into 6 sections. Take one section and split it in half – roll into an 8-inch rope. Cross the two ropes in the middle then coil the ends in tight circles. Shape 5 more buns in the same way.
8. Place the buns 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight.
9. Next morning: about 2 hours before you want to serve, take the buns out of the ‘frig and place on counter to warm to room temp.
10. Preheat oven to 350.
11. Mix the egg and water with the fork in a small bowl. Brush lightly over the top of each bun. Decorate the buns with raisins (placing one in the center of each swirl). Dust with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
12. Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes. When the buns are golden brown, remove from the oven and serve!

These were so good and not too hard to make either. And for those in the family who don't like raisins, the four raisins in each roll are very easy to pick out. String Bean and I can't wait for next year to make these again.



Another light happened today: we're in a homeschool drama club called (appropriately enough) "Lumen Christi" or "Light of Christ". The Winter plays were performed this afternoon at dh's lovely high school theater (I think we're the first theatrical performance in the facility).

The first play, Magician's Nephew, is from the first Narnia book and is the creation of Narnia. Lego Maniac was a talking monkey and had such fun chattering, bounding about the stage and generally being a monkey! He was great!

Kotch helped with make-up and did an excellent job on making her brother look like the monkey he can play a little too well.

The second play was a traditional rendition of the Nativity Story ... from the prophecy to the annunciation ... visitation of Mary to Elizabeth ... journey to Bethlehem for the census ... arrival of the shepherds ... and the adoration of the Magi. String Bean was the angel who tells Joseph: "Joseph, Son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit ....". She was so beautiful and spoke out very clearly. (And it was extremely convenient that she was an angel so that her costume could do double-duty as "St. Lucia" this morning!) BamBam and LegoManiac were soldiers to announce the census and shepherds to visit the Christ Child (played very well by the little sister of the girl playing Mary -- the baby was only a few months old and stole the show!).


After a pizza party in the cafeteria, we headed home with a few close friends for real coffee and Advent time treats: Port Cake, Butter Almond Cookies, and St. Lucia Pepparkrakor (ginger cookies) -- with all the candles we have in the house lit of course!

Advent: St. Nicholas Day

OK, I have to say my all-time, bar-none, favorite holiday movie is NOT "It's a Wonderful Life", "Frosty the Snowman" or "Charlie Brown's Christmas" -- actually, those don't even come close. My all-time, bar-none, favorite holiday movie is Miracle on 34th Street -- the original with Edmund Gwenn as Chris and Natalie Wood giving an amazing performance as a girl who finally believes: "I believe, I believe, it's silly, but I believe". Every year, growing up (this is before videos and dvds, when you had to wait patiently till a TV-station deemed a movie worthy to be shown), "Miracle" was shown on "Dialing for Dollars" on Christmas Eve. It's a classic!

In this all-time, bar-none, favorite holiday movie my all-time, bar-none, favorite scene is when Natalie is slightly off-stage, watching Santa talking to a little Dutch refugee and they begin singing a traditional St. Nicholas song. I love how Natalie Wood's eyes get really big as a man she begins to think may actually be Santa, begins to sing in Dutch.

The tune is also quite catchy. And now I have the words that Edmund Gwenn and the Dutch imigre sing:

Sinterklaasje kapoentje,
Breng wat in mijn shoentje,
Breng wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je, Sinterklaasje!

Even though the words are in Dutch ... you almost get the sense of the words without the English translation; altho here it is ...

Dear good Sinterklaas,
Put something in my shoe,
Put something in my boot.
Thank you, dear Stinterklaas!

So this is such an appropriate song for our own St. Nicholas Day. We are teaching our kids that Santa Claus is St. Nicholas -- that the Saint who is the patron of children, young men, maidens, seafarers and others, is the Saint who brings gifts to children who have tried to believe and be good. He is the ultimate human symbol of complete self-sacrifice and love for others -- with no looking for what he might "get out of it". I'd love for the kids to try and emulate him a bit more in their own daily lives.

Last night, our family (even mom, dad and 17yod) put their Saint Nick letters in their shoes in the hopes that this morning St. Nick would have taken the notes and left maybe a little something. In our house it's usually a few chocolate coins, a book and maybe a candy cane.

This is such a wonderful tradition for us ... it gets the kids focused on giving to others -- St. Nicholas is such a great role model for that in his willingness to help others, to give to others and keep himself anonymous as much as possible.

We've been reading his story through lovely books:

• Marianna Mayer's The Real Santa Claus: Legends of Saint Nicholas
• Gloria Whelan's The Miracle of Saint Nicholas
• Louise Carus' The Real St. Nicholas: Tales of Generosity and Hope from Around the World

The book by Carus is a book packed with wonderful tales, amazing legends and facts about the 4th Century Bishop of Myra (now in Turkey) who gave of himself for love of God. This is what I want my children to imitate. This is why we spend much school-time during Advent talking about St. Nicholas -- and the other Advent-time saints -- those who gave of themselves, with no thought to self-aggrandizement but only for love of God and God's creation.

For our special treat today we made boterkoek (Dutch Almond Butter Cake) which is a traditional favorite from the Netherlands.

It's easy to make but oh, so good!
This recipe makes one 9x13 pan or three 8- or 9-inch pans.... so go make some now -- you'll love it!

Boterkoek (Dutch Almond Butter Cake or Bars)
(preheat oven to 325 degrees)

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 sticks butter (1 cup) softened
• 1 cup (1/2 pound) almond paste
• 2 cups flour
• sliced almonds (about 2 cups)
• cinnamon sugar mixture

Cream eggs, sugar and margarine, blending well. Slowly add almond paste -- if you cut the paste into small pieces and use a mixer, it will be much easier to incorporate the almond paste throughout the dough. Add flour and beat to all blended. Bake in greased pans (either one 9x13 or 3 8-9-inch rounds); sprinkle top with sliced almonds and cinnamon sugar. Bake till golden and done.

Enjoy!

This was a big hit at a party e went to this afternoon where we watched Navy slaughter the Army at the annual Commander-in-Chief Game (final score 34-0 .... yep, Army scored zilch, zero, nada -- good thing too as all the folks in the room were rooting for Navy!)

ST. NICHOLAS PRAYER

Loving God, we thank you for
the example of St Nicholas,
who fed the hungry,
brought hope to the imprisoned,
gave comfort to the lost,
and taught the truth to all.

May we strive to imitate him
by putting you first in all we do.
Give us the courage, love and strength
of St Nicholas,
so that, like him,
we may serve you
through loving our brothers and sisters. Amen.
—by Amy Welborn

Advent: early Advent saints' feasts

I had a discussion this morning (0-dark-30!) with dh about celebrating Advent with all the feasts or celebrating Advent by fasting and repentance in preparation for Christmas. I weigh in definitely on the "teach the kids the joyful with the sorrowful" so since I'm the main teacher, we celebrate as many feasts as we can throughout Advent in our home education journey.

-----*-----*-----

Yesterday, Decemember 3rd, was the feast of St. Francis Xavier. This is one great guy: not only is he Basque (even tho he's from the Spanish side rather than the French side of the Basque region, we'll happily claim him!), he was a Jesuit when Jesuits were "the good, the true and the beautiful", and he evangelized India, Japan, Phillipines and died on his way to China. He was born to wealth and gave it all up to be missionary to Asia. Ya gotta love this guy!

We had gone to Mass at dh's high school in the morning, so we'd heard from Father all about FX's exploits in the Far East, but when we got home we learned even more. 12 years AFTER he was in Japan, his converts still had the neophyte's zeal for his/her faith. This is an amazing achievement as so many other missionaries failed to convert the Far East native populations.

So, in honor of this Basque nobleman who had such an impact on Japan, we (thanks to MaryM's suggestion) did Japanese Origami ornaments for our craft-time (and thus created Christmas decorations at the same time). It was great fun to experiment and play with the origami paper -- I wish we had foil or other fancy patterned paper for this craft, but I could only find the tradtional colored/white paper. For the green one, I glue-sticked the red to the green and altho it was a little heavier than should have been, I really like the way it turned out!

For our Christmas reading we read: Strega Nona: Her Story (where we hear about her early life) and Merry Christmas, Strega Nona (where we find out just how much Big Anthony loves Strega Nona).

We finished up our day with a meeting of the St. Francis (nature study) and St. Clare (needlework) clubs -- the boys cut fresh wild holly for us while the girls crafted plastic-canvas stars. We didn't do any Christmas treat making because dh and Kotch had to be at her school for a Shakespeare night (she recited Horatio's soliloquy) while LegoManiac had a mandatory altar server meeting and I stayed home with StringBean, BamBam and an adorable 4-year-old friend (and made costumes for the kids' drama production next Saturday).

Today, December 4th, is the feast day of St. John Damascene (or John of Damascus). This is the last of the Greek Fathers and a Doctor of the Catholic Church named "Doctor of Christian Art" for his unceasing and direct defense of iconography.

We followed up our learning about St. John with a reading of Gloria Whelan's beautiful book, The Miracle of St. Nicholas. The kids really liked this one: a story of a boy who changes his village forever by dreaming of opening the 60-year-closed village church in time for Christmas Mass. Just beautiful.

This book is such a wonderful tie-in both with today's feast and St. Nicholas' feast in two days. St. John Damascene is famous for his defense of iconography -- what better way to "own" this than to become an iconographer for the day? So, I had the idea to have the kiddoes drew their idea of the book's St. Nicholas icon. StringBean, who really likes the Impressionists (Monet is her favorite artist) did her impression of the icon, while LegoManiac did his almost identical to the picture -- but since he couldn't get the hands right, he just removed the hands and the Scriptures).

They drew these icons to the smell of Syrian Biscochos (basically sugar cookie bars). Since I wasn't sure how these would taste -- check out the list of ingredients: WOW! -- I only made a half batch. The recipe I've included below is half the original -- and it made about 2-1/2 dozen bars. The cookie dough had an odd flavor but a beautiful color; the baked cookie had a great flavor but an odd color. A recipe of paradoxes, huh?

Here's the Biscochos recipe from Food DownUnder's "Syrian recipes" I used (I've given the halved version):

□ 1 cup butter, softened (the original recipe called for shortening, but I just can't bring myself to have that stuff in the house!)
□ 1/4 cup granulated sugar
□ 1/2 tsp salt
□ 1/2 tbls anise
□ 1/4 tsp ground cloves
□ 2-1/2 cups flour
□ 1/2 cup red wine (the original recipe said "wine"; checking around for a more definitive ingredient description, I found the recipes all said "any kind of wine" -- I used burgundy which accounts for the beautiful pink color of the batter)
□ Cinnamon-sugar mix to roll after baked

Preheat oven to 375.
Combine butter with sugar; add salt, anise and cloves.
Slowly add flour and wine to form dough. Continue adding flour (more than given above) until dough doesn’t stick to hands.
Roll out about 1/8-inch think and cut into squares.
Bake for 10 minutes at 375.
Remove and roll in cinnamon-sugar mix while still hot. Cool and eat!

These cookies are REALLY good -- and it turns out there are other countries who "claim" these cookies: Spain, Mexico and it's even the "state cookie" of New Mexico! Who knew?

Advent: Crafting and a bit of reading ...

... was on the docket today. First, we did some activities from Holy Heroes' Advent Adventures page -- LegoManiac doing the crossword, String Bean the word search, and BamBam coloring a picture -- where today we talked about the Second Joyful Mystery, the Visitation of the Blessed Mother to her aged cousin Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist. The cool thing about the Holy Heroes' information is that the multiple choice "tests" can be used for reinforcement and then the puzzle pages tie right in also. This is going to be a great addition to our Advent days.

We're also doing something a little different this year with the Advent Blocks that we made in 2006. The past couple of years, we've done the blocks at night so the whole family can participate.

This year, we're going to use them to "plan" our day ... so the block will give us an Advent/Christmas saint to explore, who to pray for or what to pray, crafty activity to do for the day, what the treat will be, what object to add to the Nativity set and finally what symbol to discuss (and that's the one we'll leave in the box to help us count down the days). The blocks won't be pulled at random so we can celebrate a saint's feast on the appropriate day (for instance, tomorrow is St. Francis Xavier) and the Christ Child won't go in the Nativity until the 24th ... but this works for us. I like having the blocks left in the box -- less cleanup when Christmas is over AND I can direct the kids to the box when they ask the age-old question "when will it be Christmans?"

Here's what we "got" today for discussion and activities:

• saint of the day: St. John Neumann (whose feast is Jan 5th, so we often "forget" him during our Christmas break)
• who or what to pray: read today's reading, responsorial and gospel
• crafty activity: make ornaments
• treat for the day: hot chocolate (perfect as it's been cold/damp and we keep the house at a steady 65!)
• object to add to our Nativity: shepherd
• symbol to leave in the box: Chalice and Host

The kids really liked that we did this for our "school day" as it gives us lots of time to really discuss and do in preparing for the Christ Child. This helps us slow-down our Advent and revel in being Catholic while at the same time learning how to share, how to create, how to listen, how to serve ... how to live!

We also read a book suggested in Cay Gibson's Christmas Mosaic: Clyde Robert Bulla's book, The Christmas Coat about two brothers who give their mom the best Christmas gift ever. This book really hit home for us as the boys are always squabbling (BamBam trying to be 10 instead of 6 and LegoManiac demanding rights of older brother-hood!). What a fabulous story -- and so fun to read aloud!

We finished our day with getting ready the costumes for the upcoming drama performance -- LegoManiac's roles include a monkey (type-casting?) while StringBean will be an Angel telling St. Joseph: "do not fear to take Mary as your spouse ..." String Bean was so excited by her first acting role that she had her lines memorized after the first practice!

So, what did you do this third day of Advent 2008?

Advent: started on the Christmas baking ...

... and crafting a bit too!

Today, in our house anyway, was "Stir Up Monday" (primarily because we always seem to miss Stir Up Sunday!) We usually begin the Christmas treat-making the first week of Advent as some of our goodies need a few weeks to steep. On Stir-Up Monday, I have everyone who is home, stir the batter as the tradition states.

Today, we made Port Cake ... an amazing recipe from a friend in Australia that has prunes, currants, raisins, walnuts (and of course) Port. This cake is so deliciously moist and good after it sits for a few weeks (with additional Port poured over the top every few days). The recipe I used is below -- and it made 4 small loaves (roughly 5 x 3) and 1 larger loaf (roughly 4 x 8) and took 2-1/2 hours to cook:

PORT CAKE

(Original Source: recipe from Better Homes and Gardens 2002 but I’ve edited the recipe for my tastes (the original called for chocolate, but that was gilding the lily if you ask me!)

Ingredients
· 3 cups currants
· 3 cups raisins
· 3 cups pitted prunes
· 1 cup Port
· 1 cup butter, softened
· 1 tbsp vanilla extract
· 1 cup dark brown sugar
· 4 eggs
· Finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange
· 1/3 cup molasses
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 tsp baking powder
· 1 tbsp allspice
· 1 tbsp nutmeg
· 1 tbsp cinnamon
· 1 tbsp cloves
· 2 cups walnut halves
· Extra 1/2 cup port, for pouring over cake

This cake is chock-full of sweet, plump dried fruit that's been soaked in port, and it only improves with age. Make this cake on Stir-Up Monday (first Monday of Advent) each year so that it has time to develop its wonderful full flavor. Pour a little port over the cake every few days to give it extra depth and to help it stay moist. It will keep well in a container in a cool dry place or for longer storage, cover the cake well in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge.

NOTE: Yes, the tablespoon measurements given for the spices are correct. Extra spices give a wonderful flavor to the cake.

Here's how
· Put currants and raisins in a large bowl. Cut up prunes with scissors and add to bowl. Add Port and mix well. Leave to stand for at least two hours, stirring occasionally.
· Preheat oven to 325F. Spray the pans (I used 4 small loaf and 1 larger loaf pan) with cooking spray.
· Cream softened butter. Add vanilla and beat for a minute longer. Add brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
· Add the creamed mixture to the fruit. Add the orange rind, juice and molasses and stir to combine. Sift the flours and spices and add the sifted dry ingredients and walnuts to the mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Don’t overstir as you’ll get a very dry cake.
· Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared pans. Tap pan gently on the table to settle the mixture. Smooth the surface of the cake mixture with the back of a wooden spoon. Bake for 2-1/2 to 3 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake. Remove cake from oven to cooling rack; pour extra Port over the tops of each loaf and cover with a towel until the next morning. When the cakes are completely cool, cover with foil, plastic wrap or a plastic lid and store in a cool, dry spot.

==================================================================

In addition to kicking off the baking ... we also started our crafting. BamBam and Kotch started making the felt-foam soldiers that BamBam has decided will go on everyone's packages.

Jesse Tree tonight now has two ornaments on it ... the beeswax candle is burning WAY too fast on the Advent Wreath and we are still waiting for delivery of our advent calendar. Other than that ... we're having a wonderful start to our Advent (after all, we made it to daily Mass this morning -- so what else do we need?)

BTW, normally I would have also made traditional fruitcake (either dark or light) tonight, but there is no candied fruit to be found in Northern Virginia! Isn't that odd? Nada ... zilch ... none! And I really like my fruitcake, too. I guess I'll just have to satisfy myself with the rather dense, Port-soaked Port Cake and forget the rather dense, Bourbon-soaked fruit cake!

Advent: A time of Repentance, Reparation and Resolutions

Today is the first Sunday of Advent! Oh, happy day ... we love advent around here because we pull out all the stops and prep in every way for the coming of the Christ Child on Christmas Morning!So we have the candles and wreath ready for lighting tonight ...the Jesse Tree is ready for the hanging of the ornaments each night as we learn about the link between the Old and New Testaments, between the prophets and Jesus' fulfillment of the prophesies...the family altar is ready for our advent blocks and (from Dec 17th) our O Antiphons house ...and we have the basket of Christmas crafts (gifts, decorations and fun items) all set to start working on for our first home-made Christmas.We always read from Geraldine McCaughrean's The Jesse Tree -- a great story about a crochety old wood-carver and an inquisitive little boy who gets the old man to tell him the story of the Jesse Tree. We read a section each night at dinner and then place the appropriate symbol on the tree. I'll set aside 30-60 minutes each day for personal meditation -- this year, I'll use Catherine Doherty's Donkey Bells. I particularly like this book for meditation as it goes beyond Advent and into the Christmas season.

Tomorrow, we'll start the Christmas baking -- around here "stir up Sunday" usually becomes "stir up Monday" as somehow the First Sunday of Advent always sneaks up on me! As we progress, I'll post recipes and results here.

As a final thought for this first Advent post, this quote from the Magnificat really hit me today as we continue to pray for the sale of the house in Denver and I continue to pray for the wisdom and grace to simplify and refocus our lives:

At a certain point in life, the profound deisres and cravings of our heart
reach a point of eruption in us. Yet, at the same time comes the awareness
that we cannot bring about what we want -- we do not have inside us what is
needed to fulfill and satisfy our longings. And so, with our infinite yearnings we turn to the Infinite and cry, "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down." Our experience of helplessness before the fact of our boundless human need moves us to ask for fellowship with God's Son, Jesus Christ the Lord. The nature of our desire assures us as we enter into Advent that we are not lacking in any spiritual gift as we wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord of the house is coming ... Be watchful! Be alert!

Advent: Now it kicks into high gear ...

... and I'll be shutting down my computer (except for emails) for the next few weeks!

Today is the 3rd Sunday of Advent, also known as "Gaudete Sunday" for the joy we experience today and always, knowing that Jesus will be born on Christmas morning and will save us from our sins.

This is also the one of only two Sundays throughout the year where the Catholic priests (from the lowliest village vicar to the Pope himself) will wear the "rose" colored vestments which signify joy.

Tomorrow, December 17th, we'll start praying/meditating about the O Antiphons (and our use of the new "house" and blocks will start) and then we'll join in the Hispanic celebration of Posada at Church on Friday, Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Advent, Monday is Christmas Eve and then the partying really starts from Christmas, through the 12 days, to Epiphany!

So, dearest readers, this post will be the last of the year ... as a gift to my family I will be shutting down the computer and only checking emails from tomorrow until after the Epiphany, January 6th. This is a gift VERY worth giving to my family who are pretty much supportive of the time I take to write, read and play on the computer ...

My prayer is that all of you will have a healthy, holy and blessed end of Advent 2007 and beautiful start to Christmas season!

Advent: O Antiphons

Last year, I believe it was Katherine J. who had the SENSATIONAL idea to create an O Antiphons house with blocks. Check this post from Jenn GM for her write-up on O Antiphons last year. Anyway, I was too late to do this last year, but remembered early enough this year (surely a minor miracle!) to go ahead and get one ready.

Today we worked on putting it all together for Monday's start.

I wood-burned a wooden "house" I'd gotten at Hobby Lobby. This was my first attempt (ever!) at wood-burning and it really made a cool "rustic" looking house. I then oiled the wood to keep the natural, rustic look while keeping it from drying out in this Colorado desert!

The 1" cubes I'd gotten were too small for the openings, so I put 1-3/4" flat squares on the cubes -- we then did the symbols and name of each antiphon -- Sapientia, Adonia, Radix Jesse, Clavis David, Oriens, Rex Gentium, Emmanuel and I added a final one for the 24th -- Light of the World. Just used Sharpies and a bit of patience.

I think the final result will definitely be a family tradition for years to come!

Swaps: Holiday Traditions

On my knitting blog, I recently mentioned all the swaps for which I've signed up this year. One is particularly appropriate to mention here on this blog.


The Holiday Traditions exchange was organized by Meg McElwee at Montessori-by-Hand -- an excellent blog about doing the Montessori thing without losing your shirt or busting the budget! The "rules" were to:

1.) One handmade holiday decoration. Decorations made from any kind of
medium are acceptable – from fabric to yarn, paper to paint.
2.) Your
favorite holiday recipe.
3.) A “Tradition” Tutorial. This is description of
one of your family’s special holiday traditions. If needed, you should provide
step by step instructions. (For example, if your family makes graham cracker
candy houses each year, you would provide more concrete instructions.) You might
also consider sending along a couple of photos of the tradition in action.

Well, I really got into this swap. And, since I sent my kit off yesterday, I thought I'd unveil it here ....

I created a binder (one of those 5x8 size) and did pages on our Advent, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations, and Christmas-time (or the 12-days of Christmas). The pages are packed with recipes, Saints feast days and other fun things we do to make the whole season come alive. This binder was packed in its own (hand-decorated) canvas bag and I attached a hand-knitted (of course!) ornament to the package.

I'm hoping my swap partner enjoys reading about our traditons -- maybe she'll incorporate some of ours into her own holiday traditons!

Starting tomorrow -- and for the next few days, I'll post some of the info I compiled so that my readers can see what we do.

Feast: Stir-Up Sunday .... er, make that Monday ...

... and you'll have our house yesterday!

This past weekend was a tad hectic -- an ordination to the Priesthood on Saturday of one of our wonderful deacons, over to the high school to help honor students put up a tree (and the answer to the age-old riddle, "just how many NHS members DOES it take to erect a 13-foot tree?"), quick home to get chile-relleno casserole (recipe below) ready for Fr. Mark's first Mass on Sunday; on Sunday, we had CCD, Fr. Mark's first Mass, reception afterward (with me serving the hundreds of parishioners who wanted to welcome Fr. Mark!) and then back to the high school to set up dh's classroom for Advent! By the time we got home on Sunday afternoon, I didn't feel like stirring-up anything, let alone mincemeat and fruitcake!

So, we decided to move Stir-up Sunday to Monday and now all are happy! Stir-up Sunday is traditionally the first Sunday of Advent -- in the prayers (the "Collect") for the day (and each night of the week), we pray:

stir up thy power, O Lord, and come, that by thy protection we may be
rescued from the dangers that beset us through our sins; and be a Redeemer to
deliver us; Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

So, stir-up we did! We boiled, chopped, measured and stirred ingredients to make REAL mincemeat and port-cake ... and in case you'd like to try our recipes, here you go:

Old-Fashioned Mincemeat – makes about 4 quarts (enough for 2 pies)
(from A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family and Faith Throughout the Christian Year by Evelyn Birge Vitz).
Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs lean beef brisket or rump
1 tsp salt
1/2 lbs beef suet, very finely chopped or ground
1 cup dark raisins
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants
4 cups peeled, chopped apples
1/3 cup diced citron
1/3 cup diced orange peel
1/3 cup diced lemon peel
Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups apple cider/juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 to 1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds
1/2 cup brandy, whiskey, or other spirits (or fruit juice) -- we use Irish Whiskey

1. Place meat in a saucepan and cover with water. Add the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 1 hour, or until the meat can be easily shredded. Drain and shred.
2. In another saucepan, combine the shredded beef and the suet. Stir in the raisins, currants, apples, citron, diced orange and lemon, lemon juice and grated rind, sugar, molasses and cider.
3. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently – this is a good time to get everyone in the family to stir for “Stir-Up Sunday”. Add the spices and continue simmering until the mixture is nicely thickened. Stir in the nuts.
4. Turn the mixture into a large bowl and pour the spirits/juice over. This mixture should sit – covered in the ‘frig – for a few weeks. Stir occasionally and add more liquor as needed.

PORT CAKE (Source: Better Homes and Gardens 2002)

Ingredients
· 3 cups currants
· 3 cups raisins
· 3 cups pitted prunes
· 1 cup port
· 1 cup butter, chopped
· 1 tbsp vanilla
· 1 cup dark brown sugar
· 4 eggs
· Finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange
· 1/3 cup molasses
· 2 cups plain flour
· 1 tbsp allspice
· 1 tbsp nutmeg
· 1 tbsp cinnamon
· 2 cups walnut halves
· Extra 1/4 cup port, for pouring over hot cake

This cake is chock-full of sweet, plump dried fruit that's been soaked in port, and it only improves with age. Make this cake on Stir-Up Sunday (first Sunday of Advent) each year so that it has time to develop its wonderful full flavor. Pour a little port over the cake once a week to give it extra depth and to help it stay moist. It will keep well in a container in a cool dry place or for longer storage, cover the cake well in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge.

NOTE: Yes, the tablespoon measurements given for the spices are correct. Extra spices give a wonderful flavour to the cake.

• Put currants and raisins in a large bowl. Cut up prunes with scissors and add to bowl. Add port and mix well. Leave to stand for two hours, stirring occasionally. Preheat oven to 325F. Line the base and sides cooking pans with two layers of baking paper, bringing it 1/2" above the rim of the pans. (I used three foil loaf pans and sprayed them with Pam).
• Roughly chop butter and put in the small bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until butter is pale yellow. Add vanilla and beat for a minute longer. Pour in sugar and beat until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add the creamed mixture to the fruit. Add the rind, juice and molasses and stir to combine. Sift the flours and spices onto a sheet of greaseproof paper. Add the sifted dry ingredients and walnuts to the mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Don’t overstir as you’ll get a very dry cake.
• Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared pans. Tap pan gently on the table to settle the mixture. Smooth the surface of the cake mixture with a wet hand. Wrap a double thickness of brown paper around the tin and secure with string or a paperclip.
• Bake for 3 to 3-1/2 hours or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake – check the cakes after 2 hours – when I used the smaller foil loafs, it took just over 2 hours to bake. Remove cake, pour over extra port and cover with foil. Keep wrapped until cake is completely cold - this will take about 24 hours.
• Store covered in a cool, dry place (or wrapped in plastic wrap in the 'frig).

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Chile Relleno Casserole (this is GREAT! for breakfast or luncheon)

• 27 oz can of mild chiles (or 4 7oz. cans)
• 1 lb Monterey Jack cheese (in block)
• 5 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash of black pepper
• 1 lb grated Cheddar Cheese (about 4 cups)

Slit chiles lengthwise on one side. Remove seeds and drain.
Slice Monterey Jack cheese into 1/4 inch slices and place inside chiles. Place stuffed chiles in a 13x9 pyrex pan (sprayed with Pam).
Mix eggs, milk, flour, salt, and pepper and pour over chiles. Sprinkle top with grated Cheddar Cheese.
Bake uncovered in 350 degree over for 45 minutes or until set.
(makes 8 servings)

Advent: Bare Jesse Tree

As I mentioned earlier, we were involved in a Jesse Tree Ornament swap with our friends at 4real. Well, we had made a set of Jesse Tree Ornaments a few years ago, but I'm really loving the beautiful ones that we got in our swap.

But how best to display them? Here's the "tree" we used with our old ornaments -- this is a 17 x 28 piece of cloth with a tree sewn on and strings for hanging the ornaments.

I'm thinking that I'll just "whip up" another one like this for our new ornaments -- this one will go to dh's high school for their Advent celebrations (along with our "old" ornaments).

OR, I'll do a wooden plaque with a tree wood-burned on and "invisible brads" for hanging the ornaments.....

Decisions, decisions, decisions ....

Swaps: 18 down, 10 more to go

So one of the swaps we signed-up for this season is a Jesse Tree swap from the 4real forum. The Jesse Tree is an ancient symbol -- it records the Jesus' family tree through symbols. Here are the symbols normally incorporated in a Jesse Tree:

• Earth Apple & Snake
• Mary
• Ark & Rainbow
• Camel & Tent
• Lamb
• Colorful Coat
• Doorway With blood
• Tablet With 10 Numbers
• Cluster of Grapes
• Stick With bronze serpent
• Whale
• Sheaf of Wheat
• Slingshot
• Scroll
• Stump With Leaf
• Lion & Lamb together
• Dove & Crown
• Shepherd’s Staff
• Cross
• Heart With Writing
• Bethlehem
• Fiery Furnace
• Brick Wall
• Star
• Candle or Light
• Angel
• Baby in Manger

We are making the colorful coats -- the coat Jacob made for Joseph. We made 18 of the colorful coats yesterday:

We'll finish these up today and send them off to a very nice lady in Washington, D.C. who will then sort through all the symbols and create a package for each of the participants with each of the 28 symbols so we'll be able to have a complete Jesse Tree from many of our friends at 4Real!

Our Advent Blocks revisited

Well, as the Christmas season winds to a close (Feast of Epiphany is tomorrow), I thought you'd enjoy seeing the Nativity Scene LegoManiac and StringBean created. If you'll remember, on one side of the Advent Blocks, was a different character to add to the stable each day.

Here's the stable on November 30, 2006:

and here it is on Christmas morning -- all filled with donkeys, lambs, shepherds, doves, angels and of course the Holy Family